One Piece  World Reversion
by CidLuneth
Summary: During the events on the Sabaody Archipelago, Bartholomew Kuma expels the Straw Hat Pirates from the Grand Line entirely, forcing them to make their way back to the legendary sea to continue their adventure.
1. Chapter 1

**One Piece – World Reversion**

**Summary:**

In a battle with Bartholomew Kuma, the Shichibukai accidentally attacks the Straw Hats with his Devil Fruit ability, expelling the crew out of the Grand Line during the Sabaody Archipelago incident. Luffy and company must now make their way back to the Grand Line in order to resume their adventure, meeting new obstacles along the way.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own One Piece. It belongs to Eiichiro Oda. I only own the characters that are original, and not part of the actual One Piece Manga series, thus the characters that are newly introduced into this story.

**Chapter 1 – Repelled**

The Sabaody Archipelago was peaceful and serene, but when a steam began to rise into the air, it was apparent that things were not going to be as quiet as they should have been. Monkey D. Luffy was seen standing crouched down with his legs spread shoulder width apart and his right fist planted flat against the ground. The mysterious smoke was being produced by his body, which had taken an otherworldly red glow to the skin and caused his hair to spike up slightly.

Standing before the man was a massive individual that looked exactly like the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma, but it was merely a convincing replica of it known as a Pacifista model PX-4, created by Doctor Vegapunk in order to perfect the design of the Cyborg that was a member of the Seven Warlords. With a swift movement, Luffy appeared in front of the Pacifista and attacked it with a fierce punch that sent a blast of energy from his fist into the very body of the large Cyborg.

PX-4 staggered backwards from the ferocity of the attack, but otherwise it seemed unfazed and undamaged physically by Luffy's Gear Second abilities because of its durable chassis. Without a second to waste, PX-4 fired a beam of light energy from its mouth that Luffy had only narrowly avoided. Continuing its vicious assault, the Pacifista lifted its hands and started to rapidly blast the same energy beams while Luffy was forced on the defensive with no hope of having a chance to counter attack.

Luffy may have been unable to mount an assault on the replica Shichibukai, but the other Straw Hats had managed to surround it while it was too busy focusing on Luffy, unaware of the other pirates preparing to attack it. Skidding to a halt, the Straw Hat captain put on a wide grin and pointed behind him to where his first mate, Roronoa Zoro had already took the stance to attack.

"Ittō-Ryū Iai…" Zoro calmly mouthed as he rotated Wadou Ichimonji slowly around in a circle and caught the hilt with his hand while holding the sheath with his other hand down near the bottom. His eyes dilated slightly as the pupils shrank, giving him an evil glare when they locked onto the Pacifista. "Shishi Sonson!" Disappearing from sight momentarily, Zoro used intense speed to deliver a quick and powerful slash across the torso of the robot before rematerializing on the other side to sheath his blade as the cut formed on his opponent. Unfortunately it only managed to stagger the beast and showed little signs of actually damaging it.

Scoffing a bit, Sanji stepped up to the replica while it was staggering from Zoro's attack and he knocked a few ashes from his cigarette before rotating rapidly, causing his right foot to catch on fire and double in strength. "Step out of my kitchen, marimo head and let a true chef handle this." The flaming red leg was lifted into the air as Sanji kicked off the ground, hurling towards PX-4. "Diable Jambe…Premier Haché!" Thrusting both of his legs forward, they connected with the chest of the Pacifista, catching the entire thing ablaze and causing it to stagger even further back, and it seemed to be showing some wear and tear from the accumulated assault.

After his attack landed, Sanji hit the ground and fell to one knee, gripping his shin slightly and glaring up at his massive opponent. _That thing is so tough, if I had kicked it again, it would have ended up breaking my legs!_ He knew that Franky was a Cyborg much like Kuma, but he had no idea it would be that tough to do any damage to it, as Franky was not anywhere near as fortified as it.

"I may not be as strong as this Shichibukai, but it's still a human and it still bleeds just like one," Franky stated, pointing a finger up to the PX-4, which was leaking blood from its mouth and forehead from the three deadly attacks it just took. "It's got a tough exterior, but it's nothing we can't crack, and I am gonna finish off this beast in _super_ fashion!" Inserting the 'T' shaped pipe in between his hands, Franky pointed it forward and began to draw air into it, causing his already abnormally large forearms to grow even larger. "70mm Koukei 1.5 MAX Cola Power…Coup de…_Vent_!" A tremendous surge of energy propelled Franky back as it hit PX-4 in the chest, sending the seemingly immobile Cyborg launching back and crashing into a group of mangrove trees.

Breathing heavily after having used half of his cola reserves, Franky sat up and pushed up his sunglasses with his thumb, grinning widely when he saw the Pacifista laid out on the ground in the middle of the uprooted trees. His celebration would not last long as he saw the large replica beginning to get up, pulling itself out of the rubble to continue fighting.

The damage had been done and it was finally seen that the Cyborg was not invincible, as there were several tears in its chassis, exposing the robotic schematics beneath it that proved it was truly a copy of Kuma, but still just as durable. Four of the Straw Hats had attacked it with some powerful moves, but were still unable to do enough damage to destroy it and were now severely winded due to their vain attempts.

All seemed to be lost until Luffy let out a loud yell and bit his thumb, blowing into it while still in Gear Second and causing his arms to inflate to the size of a giant. "Hone Fuusen!" The air passed from his right arm to his left, causing it to become massive in size, even larger than the Pacifista they were fighting. Stretching his arm back and twisting it up, Luffy launched forward with a fierce and quick attack at Kuma's clone. The enlarged fist burrowed into its chest with a burst of energy, ripping the cyborg to shreds and crushing it against the trunk of a mangrove, effectively destroying it and leaving nothing behind but tiny scraps of metal.

Due to the adverse effects of his Gear Third, Luffy shrank down to a smaller size and fell to a sitting position in order to catch his breath after the difficult battle. He knew that the Archipelago was a dangerous place for them to be, so they would soon have to make their escape after facing such a deadly adversary.

"Everyone, I want you to start heading to the Thousand Sunny so we can prepare for departure," he stated, his voice high pitched because of his new stature, but it did not lose an ounce of the commanding tone it had as captain.

"But what of the coating on the ship," Nami suddenly protested, stepping up to Luffy. "Rayleigh-san said it would take at least three days for it to be applied and without it, we cannot go forward to the Fishman Island."

Shaking his head and slowly beginning to return to normal size, Luffy glanced back at Nami. "It's too dangerous here with all of the Marines and that Shichibukai prowling around, so we're going to fall back for now and come back when we're assured safety for Rayleigh-ossan to apply the coating."

As soon as Luffy stood up and walked past Nami, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder in order to lead her away and in the direction of the Thousand Sunny, a palm was thrust against the back of his head and planted him face first into the ground, creating a small crater due to the impact. He was quick to react and jump away from the unknown assailant, catching Nami with his rubber abilities and bringing them both to a safe distance from the new attacker.

When he looked forward, he would see a large bodied individual with an odd hairstyle resembling a folklore hero Kintarō and a giant axe in his left hand, slung across his shoulder. Because of his immense strength, he had no need for the weapon and was simply relying on his bare hands to fight Luffy. Directly behind him was another Pacifista, much like the one they just faced, but it was certain it was a different model and a fresh fighter unlike the exhausted Straw Hats.

"Who are you," demanded Luffy, grinding his teeth together and clenching his fists tightly as he found him and his crewmates now facing another strong opponent. "And why do you have another one of those Shichibukai with you."

"My name is Sentoumaru," The warrior replied in passing, but mentioned nothing of the Kuma replica that was with him. "PX-1, it is your duty to crush the Straw Hats where they stand, but try to refrain from killing them."

"Damn, this is bad," Luffy mused to himself, taking a few steps back to distance himself from Kuma and Sentoumaru, but was unable to find a way out of their dire situation without fighting. "Everyone! Get back to the Thousand Sunny right now and prepare to set sail while I handle these two."

The crew protested at first, wanting to stay and fight to assist Luffy in his battle against two very powerful opponents, but Zoro stated it was a necessary evil in order to escape the Archipelago unharmed. Without hesitating, the other eight members of the Straw Hat crew began to flee the battle site and head to the grove where the Thousand Sunny was docked at.

Going back into his Gear Second form, Luffy's skin changed color once more and amplified his speed and power by vast amounts so that he could fight off both of his opponents at the same time. It was only discovered how futile his efforts were when he attacked Sentoumaru only to be repelled by his powerful defense.

"I have the tightest defense as a bodyguard for Doctor Vegapunk, Pirate Luffy," he stated, keeping a stoic expression on his face when he assumed a stance similar to a sumo wrestler with his hands on his knees and legs spread apart. "So don't expect to be able to handle me so easily even with those mysterious Devil Fruit powers of yours.

The real Bartholomew Kuma is currently en route to intercept your comrades along with Uncle Kizaru, so even if you manage to stop the Pacifista and myself here, it is of no concern to the Marines when capturing your friends."

Luffy smirked rather casually, keeping his fists up in front of his face and staring defiantly at Sentoumaru for about a minute. "Ah, you see, about that," he began, suddenly sticking his tongue out and kicking off the ground to dash at an intense speed to escape his enemy and get to the Thousand Sunny. "I don't have time to mess around with you."

The Thousand Sunny soon came into sight for him, but before he was able to reach the large vessel, Sentoumaru appeared in front of him and planted a palm against his face, grabbing him in a vicious grapple and slamming him into the earth below, causing several cracks to form and a small crater as well.

At the exact moment that Sentoumaru grounded Luffy, both Kizaru and Kuma appeared in order to make good on his threat that the Marine Admiral and Shichibukai were coming to stop the Straw Hats. However, the entirety of the crew had managed to get on board the vessel and was making the necessary preparations for departure.

"I'll make short work of these pirates and have them brought in immediately for transfer to Impel Down," Kizaru said, speaking into his Baby Den Den Mushi in order to communicate to the Marine Headquarters that he had the Straw Hats. "Sentoumaru, I expect you to take care of Monkey D. Luffy for me while I deal with the rest of his comrades."

Sentoumaru nodded in compliance to the orders of his superior officer; however, when he turned back to finish Luffy off, the pirate was gone and had leapt on board of the Thousand Sunny to escape from the Sabaody Archipelago.

"Lower the sails and have Franky prepare to activate the cola system to get us out of here." He shouted frantically while keeping his eyes close on the three oppressors on the dock just before them. "We're gonna make it out of here no matter what, so you guys can just stop wasting your time already."

Seemingly displeased by the new development, Kizaru proceeded forward in order to attack the crew on board their ship, but he was interrupted when Silvers Rayleigh appeared and connected with the Admiral's light sword with a solid one of his own, using his Haki to make his untouchable blade contact his as if it were a material object.

"These kids are here to continue the New Era of Piracy and there's no way I'm gonna let you interfere with their dreams or the dreams of other pirates around the world." Rayleigh declared boldly, pushing back Kizaru as Kuma prepared to use his Devil Fruit powers to attack the elder pirate and repel him off the Archipelago.

When he saw the attack coming, he dove out of the way, causing the large paw to suddenly engulf the Thousand Sunny and pick it up off the water, lifting it high into the air and launching it completely out of the large collection of mangrove trees where it would travel for three days before landing in a predetermined location that Kuma had chosen.

Kizaru sighed rather nonchalantly while Sentoumaru started aghast at the scene they just witnessed. One of the most notorious pirate crews were lost to them when Kuma blasted the ship away, presumably never to be seen again.

Lifting up the communicator again, Kizaru reported to the Marine Headquarters that they had just lost the Straw Hat pirates and would resume collecting the other pirates that had been defeated by the Pacifista and other Marines around the island while leaving Silvers Rayleigh to his own devices due to the fact that they stood no chance of capturing him in the current situation.

"You've gotten quite lucky again, Rayleigh," Kizaru commented, keeping a typical smile on his face even though they lost their initial targets. "But there will be a day when we have to come after you again and I can assure you that when that day comes, you will fall prey to the might of the World Government."

Elsewhere, on a remote island in West Blue named Hitoya, a peculiar boy was sitting idly in a jail cell in a Marine base, resting his back against the wall with one leg thrown over the other and whistling to himself to pass the time as a guard sat in a seat watching over him. The youth in particular was a rather intimidating looking nineteen year old with sharp, yellow eyes and scruffy brown hair that nearly resembled wolf's fur, growing down to the back of his neck. He stood at about five foot nine inches and was wearing a brown jacket with a white shirt beneath it and a pair of blue, carpenter's jeans with a tool belt strapped around his waist and a simple pair of brown shoes. Scratching lazily at his ear, the mysterious boy glanced out the window in his lonely cage to see a ship suddenly descend from the heavens and crash on the ocean surrounding their tiny island. He jumped up and grabbed onto the bars in order to get a closer look, noticing that an odd paw imprint had formed on the surface of the water beneath the ship.

"Whoa-ho, that's not something you get to see every day," he remarked, leaping down and getting close to the bars to tell the guard of the scene he had witnessed, but the feeling of weakness washed over him again when he got close. _Damn, I forgot that they made these bars out of Kairouseki._ "Hey man, you need to get this crazy thing I just saw out this window."

"Shut your mouth, Kedamono Jeran," the guard retorted rather curtly, not moving from his position of watching him and merely returning to flipping through the newspaper that lay in his lap. "I'm not here to make small talk with you, nor am I here to listen to any of your farfetched stories."

Little did the guard know that the story Jeran was supposedly making up was far from false, and that the ship that was now sailing towards the island housed highly wanted criminals to the World Government. The Straw Hat pirates would soon be docking at Hitoya in order to discover what their whereabouts were.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – The Rogue Wolf**

After the Thousand Sunny hit the water, a massive amount of water splashed upward and hit the deck of the large Brigantine Sloop, dousing the entire crew since they were making preparations to escape as soon as Kuma sent them flying with his unique Devil Fruit power. Breathing heavily and growling slightly in frustration, Luffy sat up and drained the water out of his blue vest, thinking to himself how badly he was defeated by Sentoumaru without even so much as laying a hand on him.

"That stupid bear sent us flying, but I wonder where we are," he asked himself, trying not to think too hard because it made his head hurt when he did. "I just can't get my mind off those three guys." An image of Kizaru, Sentoumaru, and Kuma formed in his mind from what he remembered of them, which caused him a great deal of anger that he was so easily beaten and how his nakama were put at risk because of his weakness. "Someday, we'll take them all down."

With that, he stood up and went to go check on everyone, making sure nobody was hurt or injured. Everyone appeared to be fine, much to Luffy's relief. Chopper would be able to take care of the minor injuries that the crew had sustained. Considering they were flying for three days and three nights, it is unknown as to where they could have landed, but they would soon need to get a bearing on their location.

Nami tapped the Log Pose on her wrist several times, noticing that the compass was pointing in no significant direction and was either sitting idly in place or swaying back and forth as if confused about where it was trying to face. "The Log Pose isn't working, so I can't tell what direction it is to go back to the Archipelago." She assumed at first that there was some form of magnetic interference in between one of the islands of the Grand Line that may have been throwing them off completely.

"Ah! I've got it!" Luffy exclaimed suddenly, fishing around in the pockets of his trousers and pulling out the Biblicard that Rayleigh had given them. Smirking with triumph, Luffy held flat in his palm as it began to point in the direction of where the former first mate would be found. Perking his head up to see where it was facing, he noticed that it locked onto the nearby island that was in their direct path. It was unlikely that he was at the island when they had just seen him at the same grove they were at before being launched away by Kuma.

"That's our destination then," he stated, pointing at the island and nodding to the others to finish preparations for departure and deciding that they would first investigate the town that was present in order to find out where in the world they were. "We need to get back to the grove where we were supposed to finish getting the coating done and get to Fishman Island."

Nodding in compliance to their Captain's orders, the crew set sail towards Hitoya and circled around the island to where the dock was in order to disembark. All the while, the strange youth inside of the jail was watching them, closely examining the sails and flag flying to see if he recognized the colors, but he did not.

"Hey, Marine guard guy," Jeran called out, getting as close to the bars as possible without feeling physically drained by them. "Do you recognize a sail and Jolly Roger that wears a straw hat?" Although it was an infamous crew, he apparently did not know anything about them due to his lack of contact with the outside world.

Quirking an eyebrow, the Marine guard poked his head up slightly over the newspaper he was reading and looked at Jeran. "You mean you don't know who they are?" he demanded, scoffing at his ignorance and folding the paper in half before showing him the image of the Thousand Sunny as well as the nine wanted posters for the Straw Hat pirates. "Their Captain, Monkey D. Luffy, attacked Saint Charloss of the Tenryūbito and he is responsible, along with his crew, for breaking into the Judiciary Island of Enies Lobby to rescue a highly wanted criminal in the eyes of the World Government."

Jeran's eyes widened at the revelation and he clenched onto the bars despite the wave of exhaustion that suddenly washed over him. "Awesome, so those are the guys that declared war on the World Government, something so major that even my backwater island heard about it." He stepped away from the barrier and grinned, looking out the window again as the Thousand Sunny soon drifted out of sight.

_I left home in order to live a more exciting life than what I could have had if I just stayed a carpenter like my old man, and I think things are about to start heating up when those guys dock on this island._ His entire adventure or misfortune perhaps, started when he decided to stowaway onto a Marine ship to escape home.

Thinking back, Jeran recalled the day that was about a month ago, where he was working lazily with his father to thatch a roof to keep it from leaking for one of his many neighbors. The island of Parm was quiet and peaceful as it had always been, but to Jeran, it was just too boring for him and he could no longer stand living there. The sea was vast and seemingly endless, so he knew it had hundreds of adventures awaiting him.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Jeran looked down at his father, Ender, who was discussing the charges with the patron that he would have to pay for their hard work in fixing his roof. The sun was high over his head, beating down on him and causing his brow to itch as sweat ran down his forehead. "Damn, it's pretty hot out today," he mused, putting a hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun. At that moment, something caught his eye that filled him both with shock and joy at the same time. There was a Marine ship pulling into the dock of their city and several men were disembarking, most likely in order to gather supplies or investigate about some of the recent pirate attacks.

A devilish grin formed on the young Kedamono's face before he leapt from his perch, hitting the ground with a thud and a cloud of dust, dashing off almost immediately after. "I'll see ya later, old man! I'm off to live a life of adventure!" He waved and shouted to him in an ecstatic manner, leaving his father in shock at his son's sudden behavior. Jeran arrived at the docks in a matter of seconds, seeing a few townspeople fishing on the edge and mumbling to themselves about some boring thing he did not care to listen into. However, he would use them to help him out with his plan and snuck up behind them to get their attention.

"Hey," he called out to them, getting their attention and waving a hand for them to come to him. "I need you guys to help me out with something."

"Well sure, Jeran, what's up?" one of the men asked, pushing up lazily on his straw hat to reveal his eyes. "Babel and I were just gathering up some fish for the coming market sale when the commerce gets pretty high."

With a scoff, the man named Babel waved his hand as if disregarding what the other had just claimed. "We were _trying_ to catch fish, but those stupid Marines came and scared all the fish away, though we weren't having much luck beforehand since genius Ivan here brought the wrong kind of bait that the fish didn't like one bit."

Seemingly irritated by that comment, Ivan shoved Babel and the two of them got into a light scuffle, wrestling around on the dock before Jeran brought his fists down on their heads, prying them apart afterward and calming the two men down.

"Listen, I don't care who did what or what happened, but I just want you two to talk with the Marines about something, possibly why they're here and what they plan on doing as a distraction." Jeran still had the smirk present on his face the entire time he was explaining the situation to them.

"A distraction," Ivan asked, tilting his head to the side a bit, wondering what Jeran could be planning. He knew the boy was mischievous and pulled a lot of pranks, but messing with the Marines was not grounds for funny business and could get him into trouble.

"For what," Babel continued, finishing off Ivan's initial sentence. "A distraction for what?" It seemed that he had the same thoughts running through his mind, folding his arms and leaning in closer to get the word of Jeran's plan.

"I'm gonna get on board their Marine ship," he answered, standing up and sneaking past the two in order to hide behind a barrel while he gave them a silent signal to go and talk to the Marines. "Go, go."

Despite their protests about how much of a bad idea it was, they solemnly agreed and went to go talk to some of the men coming off the ship in order to pump them for information. After the last of the troops marched off the deck, it was clear for Jeran to dash on board quickly and pull up a tarp to one of the dinghies on board, hiding inside the small escape craft and simply waiting patiently for the ship to disembark.

The ship soon left port and was heading to their next destination, wherever it may be. Jeran heard a loud commotion going on and the tarp was suddenly thrust back, snapping off of the small vessel and flying into the wind. He was now staring into the eyes of a large group of Marines, all pointing guns at him. A weak smile and nervous chuckle escaped from him before he transformed into his hybrid wolf form, which he affectionately dubbed Hybrid Point, letting out a vicious roar and started to attack the Marines.

"He's a Fruit user!" one of the Marines shouted, taking aim on him and firing a bullet from his rifle, only to have it crushed in the vicious grip of Jeran's wolf-like fangs. "Call the Captains immediately!" His words went unheard as he was caught in a choke hold and knocked unconscious by the wolf boy. It seemed that the Captains had already been alerted to his presence, as a door swung open from below deck and four figures appeared from within to confront him.

The first figure that Jeran laid eyes on was a five foot six man who was garbed in all black with a vest and long sleeve shirt beneath it, trousers and boots to match and a Marine Cape to complete the ensemble. His eyes were a crystalline blue color and his hair was jet black and went down to his shoulders, stopping just short of them. The appearance made him quite dark and foreboding, almost as if a raven hunting for carrion during the night. He was Karasu Kuragari, Raven Captain of Hitoya Island.

Standing directly beside the dark Captain was a man taller than him, standing at six foot one and having a stern figure to him. Quite unlike his comrade to the right, he wore the typical Marine uniform, outfitting himself with a white long sleeve shirt accessorized with golden buttons and dark blue pants and black combat boots. He always kept a brown belt at his hip which usually holds his flintlock pistol. The Captain had long dark hair that went down past his tail bone and was always tied in a ponytail with a purple hair band along with dark green eyes. He was Hiruma, Phantom Captain of Hitoya Island.

The next man was a giant compared to his two other companions, dwarfing both of them at seven foot six with slightly dark skin, giving him a tan appearance as opposed to the other two who had fair complexions, and he has spiky blond hair with a few bangs that hang down in front of his right eye. His eyes are a dark brown in color. The Captain seemed particularly wealthy, as his outfit was a slick black suit with a golden chain around his neck, golden pocket watch, and several golden bracelets as well as rings adorning his fingers. He was Rodrieguz Rick, the Slick Captain of Hitoya Island.

Finally, Jeran's eyes fell upon the last Captain, who had a significantly paler skin tone than the other three. He had short, slicked back brown hair and deep black eyes and was wearing a dark blue cape with white inner lining and a blue, long sleeve shirt with a black tie beneath it as well as a white collared shirt under it; he also wore a pair of black slacks with dark blue colored shoes to complete his ensemble. He was Terry, the Metallic Captain of Hitoya Island.

"So you guys must be the head honchos around here, huh," he asked in a defiant manner, cracking his knuckles and threatening them with his claws, though they made no apparent movements. His vision blurred suddenly as he felt a fist plow into his stomach only to look up and see the dark Captain had moved without him even noticing, taking the time to attack him quite viciously, bringing him to his knees in an instant. Jeran was about to retaliate, but the man who assaulted him was already gone and the distraction was all it took for him to catch a swift kick to the temple, successfully knocking him out and causing his body to hit the hard wood surface of the deck.

Scowling as he came to reality, Jeran remembered how the four Captains ganged up on him on their ship and hauled him to the prison he was currently locked up in. "I bet you feel like a big man, don't you, Terry?" He got no response from the Captain as per the usual, but he figured he would continue to pick a fight with him. "You attacked one person in an unfair manner and captured me, so I guess that makes you almighty in the eyes of the Marines." In a disgraceful manner, Jeran spat at Terry's feet and left a rather large and vile looking puddle of phlegm that stained his normally clean boots.

Crumpling his paper together angrily, Terry stood up and thrust his metal bat through the cage, only to have it be caught by Jeran in a punishing grip. There was a wicked grin present on his face as he used brute strength to bend it out of place and force the Captain a little closer to his Kairouseki prison.

"I may be weakened by this damn prison, but I've got enough power to knock your sorry ass out," he thrust his head forward, bashing it against Terry's skull and sending the Captain reeling back only to stop himself with the wall as his crutch. "Damn, his head is hard as metal, I thought the bars would weaken him too."

While the blow had hurt him significantly, it did not do enough to knock him unconscious. "It's true that my metal powers were negated by those bars, but I've trained my fortitude so much that a simple head butt isn't going to penetrate through my durable skin." He pointed a finger to his forehead to show that there was only a minor bruise and no bleeding to show he had been busted open. "Nice try, Kedamono, but you're gonna be locked in there until we decide how to execute your mangy ass."

Back on the shores of Hitoya, the Thousand Sunny weighed anchor at the dock and Luffy was the first one to leap off the deck in order to get a survey of their surroundings. He may have been a little gung-ho, but the energy helped him to keep his mind off their predicament and recent defeat. As soon as his feet hit the deck, he locked eyes with a simple Marine patrolman who was busy doing his rounds of the city.

"Straw…hat…" The man seemed dumbfounded at the appearance of Luffy and was slowly reaching for a Baby Den Den Mushi attached to the back of his belt, careful not to make any sudden movements as not to attract the ire of Luffy, treating him as if he were some type of wild animal.

"Have the men returned from their patrols, Kuragari," Hiruma inquired as he walked into the highest room of the Marine headquarters, which served as their meeting area and a lounge when they needed to rest, even though the four Captains had their own personal rooms. "It's been a while and not all of them have reported in." He tried to look over his shoulder to see what his companion was doing, but he blocked his sight suddenly when he stood up.

Kuragari was drawing up maps a second before, but he stood up suddenly and lightly pushed Hiruma away as if to tell him that he did not want him spying on his work. "No, all the patrols haven't come in yet, but it's not a problem for me considering sometimes it takes a few of them a little long-" His train of thought was cut off when his receiver Den Den Mushi began to vibrate wildly, gaining both of their attention. "It's the receiver connected to Sector X-51 buzzing in."

"That's the docks," Hiruma stated, walking to the window and trying to get a good look, but Kuragari had already flown through the escape hatch in the ceiling by transforming into his bird form with his Devil Fruit. "That Kuragari, always wanting to do things himself."

When he flew high above the Marine base, Kuragari's keen raven eyes scoped out the situation, seeing the patrolman lying on the ground with a large bruise on his face and a man with a straw hat walking off the docks. His eyes widened when he saw the Thousand Sunny, flying the colors of the Straw Hat Pirates. Kuragari dropped back into the room and grabbed his Den Den Mushi. "All patrolmen immediately make for the docks and apprehend the Pirates that have docked there, but take extreme precaution as they are the crew of Monkey D. Luffy!"

"What," Hiruma seemed astonished that the crew was there when it was reported they were just in the Grand Line. "The Straw Hats are here?! What the hell are they doing here?" He got no answer from his partner, who simply rushed out of the room and began to descend the many stairs in order to exit the base to intercept the pirates before they got any further.

"I don't know how or why they're here, but all I know is it is our sworn duty to bring them to justice as Marine Captains, so we need to try our all on defeating that crew despite the things they have done and their total bounties." Kuragari was sweating slightly, a bit nervous at the idea of fighting such a dangerous group of people.

Luffy looked around, not recognizing the island and he looked back at the others, smiling widely. "I'm gonna go take a look around to see what I can find, okay?" He did not wait for an answer and simply dashed off, heading in the direction of the Marine Headquarters towering over the city, using that as his guide since it was where he was trying to get. The Marines may have been his enemies, but if there was anywhere he could get information from, it was there.

With an agitated sigh, Nami put a hand to her forehead, but before she could start complaining about the stupidity of their Captain, a whole cadre of Marines stormed up to the docks, armed with rifles that were aimed at the Straw Hats. She simply stepped away from the railing, knowing what would come next.

Almost as if on instinct, Zoro and Sanji, along with Franky, jumped off the ship and landed on the dock, eyeing out the Marines before laying waste to them in a matter of seconds with a flurry of sword slashes, kicks, and bullet fire from Franky's schematics.

Eye twitching angrily, Kuragari stood in awe of the monstrous strength of just _three_ of their crew members, so he knew that he would have to step in himself in order to fight against them. "Hiruma, we're going." He stated bluntly, tossing his cape on and heading out the door, and his partner simply followed him. The two Captains were going to engage the pirates in direct combat. They were the strongest duo of Marines on Hitoya, known as the Shadow Specialists.

Luffy had just passed by Kuragari and Hiruma, reaching the door of the base from a different route and arrived in time to see the door still open from where the Marines had left. A wide grin spread across his face as he let himself in, taking a look around his surroundings to try and get a bearing of where he was going, though he had no sense of direction whatsoever. He took off running again, choosing a random path and dashing through the halls, causing a ruckus and beating down any Marines that unfortunately happened to be in his way.

"Damn it," Jeran growled to himself, kicking at the bars to no avail, only succeeding in injuring hurting his foot from the solidity of his prison. "When are you bastards gonna let me out of here?" If they opened the cage, he might have had a chance to escape by taking down Terry when the Kairouseki was out of his vicinity.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out when we decide to transfer you to another Marine prison," Terry answered simply, still flipping through his newspaper. A commotion on the other side of the prison door got his attention, prompting him to stand up and walk towards it. "What on earth is going on out there?" The door suddenly got blasted off its hinges as the faint image of a sandal plowing into it could be seen, and Terry was hit by the steel door, flying back and slamming into the floor.

Jeran jumped back at the sudden outburst, seeing an odd man wearing a blue vest and black shorts walk into the prison, take a single glance at him and then walk over to the fallen Marine to retrieve his keys. Despite Terry having metallic skin, the door hit him so hard that it knocked him out for the moment.

With a grin on his face, Luffy opened the door to Jeran's prison and unnecessarily ripped it off its hinges, tossing it aside and causing it to land on top of the door that already flattened Terry. "Yo!" he shouted with enthusiasm.

"D-Don't you "yo" me!" Jeran retorted sharply in protest, his face taking a sudden, yet rather humorous looking angry expression. "Who the hell are you, busting in here and opening my cell for me?"

"Oh, I'm Monkey D. Luffy," he answered casually, his grin widening significantly. "I'm the man who's gonna be the Pirate King!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Shadow Specialists!**

**Kuragari and Hiruma verses the Straw Hats!**

While Luffy was busy ransacking the Marine base, the rest of the Straw Hats were forced to fight a continuous barrage of the patrolmen that had mobilized at the dock. It soon became apparent to them that they would not stand a chance against even a few members of such a ferocious band of people.

Zoro appeared out of nowhere behind a group of saber-wielding Marines, sheathing Wadō Ichimonji and smirking as he looked back to see them all shed blood and collapse, either falling off the dock into the water or hitting the hard wood at their feet. If they had not fallen into the ocean, Zoro would kick them off in order to clear up their battle space as more troops continued to close in on them.

"Honestly," he mused, resting his right hand on the pommel of his prized blade, "They just never learn, do they?" With a sigh, he figured he would go a little easier on the next group. However he was interrupted when the sound of humming could be heard behind him and his fellow swordsmen suddenly dashed by, drawing out his Shikomizue and using it to incapacitate the rest in an instant with numerous accurate strikes.

Turning on a heel, Brook tipped his hat a bit and clacked his bony teeth together before letting out a haughty laugh. "Yo ho ho ho ho!" his teeth continued to chatter with laughter while he sheathed his cane sword and he looked back to see that there were no other Marines coming. "It seems we've dealt with our little problem here, but I'm positive they'll send even more reinforcements to finish us off once they ascertain their other squadrons haven't returned."

"Then you would be correct," a cold voice called out to them as a storm of black feathers rained from the sky, clouding the vision of both Zoro and Brook, as well as the others in the distance. A black mass larger than the feathers could be seen diving through and weaving through the veil created. The figure appeared on Zoro's right and caught his hand to stay his blade while holding a peculiar looking wing up to his throat, barely grazing his skin with sharp feathers.

Even Zoro had to be shocked at how easily the opponent managed to sneak up on him, though he quickly broke away by thrusting his free hand out to jab the opponent in the stomach. He drew out his sword and slashed it with a vicious conviction, but hit only air as another storm of feathers blocked his vision. "Damn it, what's with this level of sneakiness?" The swordsman tried to keep his eyes open, but he only felt a sharp pain as the feathers pierced into his back like arrow bolts. "There can't be more than one of him, as I only felt the presence of one person when he was near me."

However, there was another Marine and he was standing outside of the whirlwind of raven feathers, his arms folded as he watched the situation closely, merely spectating before jumping into the battle himself. The Marine was one of the four Captains of the base, Hiruma, who had come with his partner, Kuragari, in order to subdue and capture the Straw Hats crew.

Continuing his valiant effort in an attempt to hit Kuragari, Zoro fought blindly through the black blizzard, unable to figure out where his opponent was while he caught more and more sharp feathers all over his body.

_Stop, Zoro…You're not going to make any progress with fighting him if you keep swinging blindly in the middle of this storm of feathers. Focus, and maintain your other senses when sight does nothing for you. There's always a way to capture an enemy that you cannot see._

"What's wrong?" Kuragari demanded, flying high in the air above Zoro while in his raven form, smirking to himself before taking a sharp nose dive down towards the green haired man, becoming swallowed in a flurry of feathers again and fading from his vision. "Have you lost all hope at fighting me? You must have learned now, Zoro that you cannot fight something you cannot see!"

Zoro's hand shot out like a cannon, reaching behind him and catching Kuragari with a powerful grip that would not easily be broken out of. He pulled him to eye level, a sadistic grin now present on his face as Wadō Ichimonji was pulled from its sheath. "I may not be able to see you when you pull those parlor tricks, but I can most certainly get a good grip on you, you raven bastard." The blade shone brightly in the sun as he lifted it high, ready to swing it down and cut through Kuragari, but that idea was short lived when he was punctured in the chest by six of the sharp feathers again. Blood began to seep from the wounds, but Zoro shrugged it off temporarily in order to finish the job he started.

"N-No way! He's not human," the Marine struggled and formed another storm of feathers, "Karasu Arashi!" While he was able to move swiftly with his bird-like form, Kuragari found himself unable to get away from Zoro until he swiped his hand up and sliced through the fabric of his shirt that the man had his grip on. Shifting to his full raven form, he took to the skies and stayed high above him, hoping that it would give him the advantage.

"Ittōryū – Sanjuu Roku Pondo Hou!" Not wanting to try and reach Kuragari's altitude, Zoro compensated for his inability to fly by attacking him from the ground with an aerial attack. His sword swept out quickly, releasing a compressed concentration of air in the form of an energy beam hurtling up towards the raven human.

Kuragari's array of feathers were scattered when the energy beam cut through them with relative ease, flying towards him at a tremendous speed. He managed to avoid it by flapping his wings forward, pushing him out of the way, though he felt the sheer cutting force rip the very air around him. "What kinds of monsters exist on this crew?" Kuragari spread his wings out, creating another array of feathers that began to descend from above to block Zoro's view once more. In order to defeat him, he would have to incapacitate him quickly before he tried to launch another long range attack that would most certainly strike home on a second attempt.

"Karasu Ame!" The feathers all sharpened in consistency, straightening and aiming down towards Zoro before falling at a fast rate. They slammed into the ground with enough force to crack the wood and cement while pelting into the swordsman's body, sending a spray of blood flying into the air, injuring him in several different locations. Certain that he had defeated his opponent, Kuragari flew down in order to investigate, seeing Zoro hunched over with blood streaming down onto the ground and in an unmoving, seemingly unconscious state. "That's one down, now to focus…"

A fierce glare formed in Zoro's eyes as he rose back to a standing position, resting the knuckles of his left hand against his leg and pointing his katana at Kuragari. "We're not done here, so hurry up and finish the battle you started." His face came into view, shooting a piercing glare at the Marine Captain and licking the blood from his lips. "My sword hasn't tasted it in over three days, so now it's time for you to give it up, Marine."

Unnerved by Zoro's inhuman durability, Kuragari called forth some of his fallen feathers to his hand, which quickly took the shape of a katana roughly the same length as Zoro's, becoming a tangible object in a matter of seconds. "Karasu Katana," he stated, taking a few steps back to distance himself from his enemy. "It's time to end this, Roronoa Zoro." A storm of feathers surrounded him and he vanished, warping all around and taking sword swipes that purposely missed in order to build up his speed and momentum before appearing directly behind Zoro. He swung the sword at a horizontal angle to cut through his opponent's sword arm, rendering him unable to fight back. "Karasu Tsubaki!"

"I use Santōryū for a reason, idiot," Zoro commented, quickly drawing out Shuusui with his free hand and pivoting around on his left foot to face Kuragari, slamming the dense and heavy blade against his. The impact instantly shattered the sword of feathers upon contact. "You can't expect to defeat a swordsman at close range when you yourself are a long range fighter." Zoro's eyes narrowed momentarily before he unleashed a counter attack with his two swords drawn out. "Karasu Kizamu!" Using his speed, Zoro dashed past Kuragari while having his arms out like wings and the sharp ends of his blades pointing towards him, using their cutting force to carve up his raven wings, ripping through the feathers and making his arms useless.

Letting out a loud cry of pain, Kuragari fell to the ground and held his left hand to his right arm, trying to stop the bleeding that was pouring from his fresh wounds. He looked up at Zoro, breathing heavily and grinding his teeth together. "Come on, don't just stand there staring at me, if you're gonna finish me off, then go ahead and do it."

Zoro nodded in understanding, knowing that fighting an opponent who could not utilize all of his abilities would be unfair in the style of swordsmanship, so he would end his suffering and finish the battle between the two of them there and then. "Prepare yourself, Raven Captain." Using Shuusui, Zoro held it off to his left and was about to swing it down before he was interrupted by the appearance of Hiruma behind him, drawing his fist back to knock Zoro out.

"I don't think so," Franky shouted from the gangplank of the Sunny, pointing his left hand at Hiruma as it rotated inward to reveal a scope, opening his wrist like a cannon chamber before launching the projectile at him. "Weapons Left!" The resulting explosion nearly hit Zoro, much to his outrage.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing, Franky?" he shouted in retaliation, tempted to go over and attack him, but he was more shocked when he saw the Marine was nowhere to be seen having just tried to assault him. "I guess it can't be helped, since that guy tried to jump in after opting to observe for so long." With a swift swing, Zoro slammed the hard edge of Shuusui into Kuragari's arm, unintentionally using too much force and shattering the bone in his right arm before knocking the Marine out due to the sheer amount of pain he caused him all in one second. "It's not our job to kill you, even if you're our enemies, so consider yourself blessed by mercy this day." Sheathing his swords, Zoro walked back towards the ship and sat down on the railing of the deck in order to witness the fight that was going to ensue between Hiruma and Franky.

"Where did he go?" Franky demanded, looking back and forth, but not seeing where Hiruma had disappeared to. "I don't want to think that my Weapons Left blew him into bits and pieces. Ow! That's not a _super_ way to go out, you know!" He turned around to look back to the ship only to see Hiruma standing there on the deck. "There he is!"

Sanji was the first one to react, having gotten back on the ship in order to watch over Nami while Zoro was fighting, and he launched a kick directly towards Hiruma's throat. "Collier!" The kick rang true as he felt his shoe connect to his opponent, knocking him to the ground and causing him to slam into the deck of the Sunny. However, what happened next was a surprise to them all as Hiruma's body simply dissolved into a wisp of smoke and he was again seen off the dock of Hitoya, standing with hands in his pockets casually.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, pirates," he inquired, seemingly unimpressed by their abilities before shrugging his shoulders and suddenly becoming surrounded by dozens of copies of himself, "I ate the Fanto Fanto no Mi, making me a Phantom human with the ability to create exact replicas of myself." One of his copies in particular had secured Kuragari and proceeded to take him back to the infirmary of the headquarters while he stayed behind to fight the remainder of the crew. "While these clones, as you have already found out, cannot sustain any damage and will be dispelled with one hit, but due to the sheer amount I can make in a small amount of time, I can hide myself within them and effectively attack your crew before you can think of what to do."

_Yo-hohoho, hohoho,  
>Yo-hohoho, hohoho,<br>Yo-hohoho, hohoho,  
>Yo-hohoho, hohoho,<em>

_Going to deliver Bink's Sake!  
>Following the sea breeze!<br>Riding on the waves!  
>Far across the salty depths!<br>The merry evening sun!  
>Painting circles in the sky!<br>As the Birds Sing!_

Hiruma quirked an eyebrow at the sound that resonated in his ears, "Who the hell is singing?" At that moment, he saw Brook standing not but a few feet away from him, twirling his cane sword around and holding it up to sheath it. "What are you doing, you talking skeleton? EEEH?! A talking skeleton?! And he has an afro?!"

"You don't have time to worry about these old bones, yo ho ho ho ho! Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazu Giri!" Brook sheathed his sword completely before a loud humming sound could be heard and dozens of Hiruma's clones were destroyed instantaneously, exposing the Captain. With a chuckle, he turned around to face him, but only succeeded in catching a bullet wound from Hiruma's rifle the second he laid eyes on him. Even though Brook was a skeleton, he was still capable of injury and fell to his knees from the severe wound he just took.

Scowling, Hiruma casually shouldered his smoking flintlock, double barrel rifle and filled the area with his phantoms again, picking up Brook by his collar and tossing him into the ocean. "If he's so light as a skeleton, then he won't worry about sinking." A cruel smirk formed on his face as he pointed his gun at one of the other pirates. "So, which one of you is gonna come at me next?"

"Brook!" Sanji shouted, ignoring the Marine for the time being and diving under water to save him, since he was a Devil Fruit user and turned into a hammer when hitting the ocean.

"That's a shame, your friend went to go save a dead man," Hiruma stated, shrugging and looking over at Franky and Chopper, "You two, the surfer dude and the gorilla, come at me at the same time to make things interesting." He had gained Chopper's ire from referring to him as a gorilla due to his large form, prompting the reindeer to wholeheartedly accept that suggestion to fight him head on. Franky agreed as well, being strong enough to back up Chopper if he needed it.

Franky rotated his arms around in a circle around one another before thrusting them into the air and slamming his two star tattoos together, combining them into one. "Oh yeah! I'm in a _super_ mood, today! Chopper and I will be enough to take you on!"

"Hm, this could be troublesome," a tall man looked down at one of the prison monitors in his personal quarters, noticing that the cage to Kedamono Jeran's cell had been opened and Terry knocked out. "I guess I'll just have to go there and intercept those little brats on my own." The mysterious man reached for a black mesh cap with a bill on it much like the traditional Marine cap, but it had no signifying marks on it. He fastened it on his head, smoothing out his spiky blond locks and heading to his door. The door swung open quickly, revealing the name plate next to it of the tenant residing within. It read: "Captain Rodrieguz 'The Slick' Rick, Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire." The man identified as Rick shuffled his feet to the side, swerving his body into a dip before straightening up again and clapping his hands together. "It's time to dance."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Phantom Hiruma's Trap!**

"Beans Left!" Franky cried out, his arm turning inward and beginning to fire multiple shots from his wrist at a rapid rate, taking out a numerous amount of the phantom clones that Hiruma created, surrounding the area of in several wisps of smoke. "Chopper, go now!"

Nodding understandably, Chopper began to rush towards the only Hiruma remaining standing that he imagined was the real one. He let out a loud battle cry, striking the Marine in the face only to see him dissolve in smoke much like the others did. A look of shock crossed the reindeer's face, since he was certain he was going to attack the real Hiruma only to hit nothing.

"As you will soon learn, you cannot defeat a phantom," Hiruma commented, his voice seemingly echoing over the area they were fighting in while he chanced a look around the corner of a building, watching Chopper and Franky as they tried to figure out where he was located. "I'm like smoke and if you try to catch it with your bare hands, you're going to get nothing out of it." His attention was diverted momentarily when he saw Sanji resurface with Brook in tow, dropping the unconscious skeleton off in the care of his nakama. In order to remain hidden, Hiruma went inside the unoccupied building while continuing to weave his trap.

Sanji picked up his pack of cigarettes that he left behind with his shoes and lit one up, taking a long drag on it before heading over to Chopper. "Where's that phantom bastard who shot Brook?" he demanded, but both of them merely shook their heads, unable to tell him where he was hiding. "He's got to be hiding in one of these buildings, so the solution is an obvious one." Sanji thrust his leg out, kicking down the foundation of a nearby house, busting it into pieces. "Nothing in here, so just give me a few minutes and I'll find him."

At the moment that Sanji attempted to move towards the building Hiruma was hiding in, a large circular shadow formed under his feet, mimicking the same thing under Franky and Chopper as well. "Sorry gentleman, but you've just walked directly into my trap," Hiruma called out, stepping out into the open and smirking to himself. "Fantomu Wana!" The circles suddenly materialized into all of his clones, restraining Chopper, Franky, and Sanji as if they were physical bindings, securing their arms and legs in place. "It's true that my clones are easily dispatched, but when I activate my phantom trap, there's no escape for anyone."

Loading his flintlock rifle, Hiruma called forth some of his clones only to dispatch them quickly as they vanished into his gun. "I'll show you the true power of my Fanto Fanto no Mi, and I think I'll start by killing your chef friend here." Two shots were fired immediately, being surrounded by a multitude of other bullets in an instant as they soared at Sanji.

A sharp pain coursed through the cook as one of the bullets managed to lodge their way into his ribs, the others passing him harmlessly as he collapsed to his knees from pain, coughing up blood from the internal injury inflicted upon him. "Bastard, you just wait until I get up."

"You won't be," Hiruma stated, walking over to Chopper and pointing the rifle at him after having reloaded. "Fantomu Shuuto!" A sound like thunder could be heard as he shot Chopper in the shoulder and in the leg, bringing the large reindeer to his knees and adding insult to injury by kicking him in the chin, knocking him to the ground. Franky was his last target, but he was not aware of his Cyborg qualities and that he was immune to attacks from the front. The two bullets burst from the chamber, though when they reached Franky, they ricocheted harmlessly off of his steel carapace.

Franky could not help but laugh at Hiruma for his failure, struggling to escape from his bindings in order to launch a counter attack on the Marine, but to no avail, he found the trap to be naturally strong despite it only being made out of simple phantom clones. _Damn, I can't get out, not even to use my invincible mode. I hope he doesn't figure out my weakness before I can find a way out of here._

_When the bullets hit him, they bounced off as if he were made of steel, so he must have some kind of cybernetic enhancements done to his body._ Hiruma thought to himself, walking towards Franky and heading around to the back. He kept a close eye on him in order to look for any obvious weaknesses. His eyes perked up when he saw that the Cyborg was struggling a little harder when he approached his back. "So I see, that's what your weakness is," At close range, Hiruma fired two shots, embedding them into Franky's back and bringing him into a state of unconsciousness. "Well, that's three Straw Hats down and only three more to go, save for their Captain, who should be beaten by Rick and Terry fairly soon."

A faint groan could be heard behind Hiruma from the fallen cook, Sanji, who was digging his hands into the ground in order to force himself to his feet. "You think I'm simply gonna let you defeat us this easily?" he demanded with an evil glare at Hiruma, finally managing to stand up despite the bullet wound in his ribs. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Marine dog!" The pain flared within as he began to rotate rapidly, screeching to a halt when his right leg lit up like a flaming beacon of light. "Diable Jambe!" Kicking off the ground, Sanji thrust his leg forward in order to hit Hiruma in the face for a powerful knock out maneuver. "Flambage Shot!"

Hiruma crossed his arms in front of his face in a feeble attempt to block the kick, but he was simply faking to distract Sanji as one of his phantom clones dove in front of him and took the full force of the attack, easily being dispatched from the ferocity of it. "That's my Fantomu Kekkai, and with it, you're never going to hit me with one of those dangerous kicks of yours, "Black Leg" Sanji."

Blood streamed from his mouth as Sanji held onto his ribs due to another flare of pain that shot through him, making it incredibly difficult to breathe. He knew they would not have had such trouble fighting the Marines if the situation was not in their favor. A faint flash back to when the Thousand Sunny was soaring through the sky for three days and three nights came to him as he thought about their handicap.

The velocity of their movement was so great, it caused things to be lifted from where they were positioned and fly towards the door and windows of the kitchen, almost being launched off the ship entirely. Because of that, it was almost impossible for Sanji to prepare anything and properly feed the crew, so they only had simple items like apples, bread, and cheese to eat for the entire three days. Even the beds were being knocked around due to the turbulence they would experience at random times, so sleeping was completely out of the question at the same time.

In short, the crew was at such a disadvantage due to their hunger and exhaustion, they would not be fighting at their full potential even against such meager opponents like two Marine Captains in the middle of West Blue. Sanji scowled at the thought of it, since it was his job as the ship's cook to keep his nakama healthy in their times of need, but he failed in doing so and was now paying for it.

His train of thought was broken when he heard a gun cocking, looking up to see the twin barrels of Hiruma's rifle aiming straight towards him. Sanji barely had the energy to lift a finger, especially due to the sharp pains continuing to rack his body. "Damn, what a shitty way for me to go out," he muttered to himself, taking another drag on his cigarette. "At least I'm going to die doing what I love." The smoke blew slowly from his mouth until he heard a clap of thunder and flinched, thinking another bullet was going to rip its way through his body. However, when the supposed shot was supposed to hit, he felt nothing and looked up to see Hiruma falling to the ground with smoke rising from his body.

"Hissatsu – Kayaku Boshi," Usopp was standing on the edge of the Sunny's railing with Kabuto attached together and breathing rather heavily with one hand at his side and the other holding up his giant slingshot that he just used to attack Hiruma. "I'm not gonna let you fight unfairly against my nakama any longer, damn it." He lifted Kabuto again in order to launch another shot at him, but he noticed that Hiruma was gone. "Eh? Where did he go?"

Usopp suddenly felt a grip on the back of his head as Hiruma snagged him, having snuck by distracting his attention with a simple phantom clone that he had spent the time looking at. "You're not gonna let me hurt your nakama anymore?" he asked, chuckling lightly and turning around to slam the sniper into the deck of their ship. "I'm not here to play games, long nose bastard!" His attack would never be completed as a bolt of lightning hit him out of nowhere and sent several volts of electricity coursing through his veins, releasing his hold on Usopp long enough for him to stagger away.

"Nami!" Usopp was in awe of the orange-haired woman for going out of her way to protect him from the Marine, "You saved me! I'm so grateful for that, Nami!" It almost appeared as if he was on the verge of tears, but she slammed the steel rod of her Clima Tact into the ground to get him to focus as Hiruma began to rise back to his feet again.

"Damn pirates, I'll teach you to screw around with me!" Hiruma leapt off the ship, landing swiftly on the dock and creating a large quantity of phantom clones before they all armed themselves with his rifle. "Let's see if you can dodge all of these when they come at you, you orange haired _bitch_."

Just the word coming from Hiruma's mouth was enough to get a rise of adrenaline from Sanji, pushing him to a vertical base again to rush through the clones, kicking them down as he did. The fiery quality of his Diable Jambe had long since faded, but he was still powerful enough to blast a house down if he needed to, so the clones stood no chance against his strength. "I found you," he cried out, leaping high into the air over a field of phantoms in order to come down upon the Hiruma that had the distinctive smoke stains from when Usopp shot him. "You're going down, you stupid Marine." A kick hit him in the face, but he was shocked to see that it only dissolved into smoke once again. "I-Impossible! How could he have tricked me again?"

Hiruma put a hand on Sanji's shoulder in order to turn him to face his direction before ramming his knee into his ribs, further crippling him and smashing his face flat into the ground with a palm thrust. "Now, stay out of my way, damn curly brow," he said, adjusting his collar and calmly walking over to the ship of the Straw Hats, not seeming to take notice to as some dark clouds formed over his head. "This is going to be the end for you and your crew as you know it, so just make it easy on yourselves and surrender immediately."

"The prediction today is stormy weather," Nami said, glancing over at Usopp, "What do you think that means, Usopp-kun?" Her eyes traced slowly up to the clouds in the sky, smiling at her own handiwork. "I think there's going to be a storm coming that this Marine should worry about."

Usopp stood a few feet behind Nami, hoisting Kabuto up and pointing it towards the sky, loading five pellets into it that were a bright yellow in color and seemed to be made of pure gold. "Your predictions are always correct, Nami-san, so we'll show them what that's all about! Hissatsu – Raijin Boshi!" The speed of the shot was increased dramatically, giving the five pellets a rotation before they hit the clouds, drawing in the energy from within and exploding in a violent maelstrom.

Laughing at the gesture, Hiruma simply created more clones and just watched on as lightning started to form, bouncing along the surface of the clouds and raining down, striking his phantoms. "Do you really think this is going to work?" he scoffed, putting one hand on his hip and shaking his head lightly. "You have no way of directing the lightning, and no way of knowing whether you'll hit another one of my clones or not. It's useless."

"A good navigator knows when and where the lightning will strike," Nami retorted, lifting the Clima Tact high in the sky, thrusting it down seconds after. "Thunder Lance Tempo!" A bolt of lightning shot down from above, bouncing literally off the deck and tearing through Hiruma's clones before it pierced his chest and sparked out the other side.

Instantly, he was shocked to the very core and started to smolder from the amount of electricity that had went through him in a matter of seconds. However, it did not end for Hiruma there was Usopp's five pellets fell down and exploded, releasing a blast of chain lightning that struck him as well. Another ball opened up to reveal a dragon composed purely of lightning that wrapped around him and delivered one final shock to him.

Hiruma let out a cry of pain along with a huge cloud of dense, black smoke that was produced from within his mouth. His hands and arms trembled along with the rest of his body, dropping to the ground and falling forward, unable to move since he had received a near-lethal dosage of shocks that would have killed any normal human.

"Damn…I'll have to leave this one up to the others for now…" Hiruma had no strength to even move, so he would not be making any fast getaways with the usage of his Devil Fruit. It seemed that the pirates had managed to defeat him in the end after he caused them so much trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Jailbreak! The Rogue Wolf faces Top Gear!**

_Heh, he must be out of his damned mind to think that he's gonna be the Pirate King! He can't even be older than I am!_ Jeran thought to himself, hiding his smirk and putting a hand to his forehead before walking out of his cell. "Well, Pirate King or not, I suppose I should thank you for busting me out of that prison there, Luffy," he stated, holding a hand out to him to accept a hearty handshake. "I wish I could pay you back, but when these guys caught me, they sort of stripped me of everything I had except for my tool belt." That statement was mostly a lie, considering Jeran did not have anything on him when he stowed away except for the clothes on his back and his carpenter's tools.

"I know how you can pay me back," Luffy responded with a big grin on his face, grabbing hold of one of Jeran's shoulders and keeping him from leaving, much to the shock of the other boy. "If I'm gonna be the King of Pirates, then I need a strong crew, and you look plenty strong yourself, so why don't you join us?"

A rather surprised look crossed Jeran's face, almost as if he could not believe what Luffy had just asked him to do; however, before a single word could be uttered, the unhinged door was sent flying up and smashed into the ceiling, becoming lodged in it due to the sheer force that was used to propel it. Both Jeran and Luffy quickly looked over to see Terry rising from the rubble, his skin consistency shifting from a metallic form and becoming sleek and shiny.

"You two bastards think you can get away that," he demanded, thrusting a finger at an oblivious Luffy. "I'm a Captain here on Hitoya and you just launched a direct assault on a prestigious Marine official, so I'll see that you'll be hanging from the gallows by morning." Most of his ire was focused on Luffy, however, for crushing him under the door. "I don't know what you seek to gain from releasing a prisoner, Straw Hat Luffy, but you'll soon be joining him along with the rest of your raggedy crew. Even now, Hiruma and Kuragari will be picking them off one by one."

Slamming the flat sole of his sandal into the floor, Luffy dashed over to Terry and punched him in the face, striking him as hard as possible and sending him collapsing back to the wall. "My nakama aren't going to lose to you stupid Marines and neither will I!"

Luffy's surprise was visible upon Terry's instant recovery. The Marine got to his feet and brushed off his suit, looking for all the world like nothing had just happened. Confusion gripped the Gomu Gomu no Mi user. "How're you still standing? My Gomu Gomu no Pistol is incredibly strong! There's no way you should still be standing."

"Because of my Devil Fruit power, you stupid monkey," Terry began to explain, displaying his unbruised face. He also demonstrated how his skin shifted from normal flesh to a strong metal carapace like that of a machine. "We four Captains have all eaten a fruit that augments our strength and makes us far superior to you pirates. Mine is the Meta Meta no Mi, capable of changing my skin consistency to and from metal as I see fit.

"I'm the strongest Marine on this island not just because of the Devil's Fruit, but my fighting prowess as well," he continued, "And it is for that reason they call me Top Gear!" Terry smirked and clenched his hand into a fist, impressed by the title that he actually gave himself even though he said untruthfully implied others were responsible.

Luffy and Jeran seemed genuinely confused about the revelation of his supposed title, although the expression soon faded and was replaced with one that showed a total lack of interest. It even went so far for a yawn to escape from Jeran's mouth inadvertently, which drew quite a bit of rage from Terry.

Putting a hand to his chin, Luffy seemed to be in deep thought about something, but he cringed when it made his brain hurt. "Top gear," he inquired, scratching his head in a confused fashion. "It sounds a lot like my gears, but it just doesn't make any sense to me."

"You must be pretty weak and conceited to even dub yourself with such a title," Jeran scoffed and held a hand up, waving it off as nonsense. "Honestly, all of you Marines are exactly alike. You're all just completely full of yourselves." He looked over to the Captain to notice that he was beginning to get even more of a negative reaction out of him.

A vein began to throb in Terry's forehead as he was taken over by anger, prompting him to dash at Luffy and punch him as hard as he possibly could in the face, thinking it would knock him out due to the force he had used; instead, it only served to stretch his head back and slam it to the ground along with his fist. He suffered from a mild shock to see that his head stretched back, which was abnormal for a human. Despite this, Terry was quickly able to ascertain his powers and compared it to the Devil Fruit of the Gomu Gomu no Mi.

"So you're a rubber human, are you?" he stood up in full and cracked his knuckles which resounded with a sickening pop due to his inhuman strength - he felt no real damage, however, since his body structure was composed of blunt force-resistant near indestructible metal. "I'm a metal human and I'll say it now that you have no chance to defeat me."

Stretching his legs and arms out in order to prepare for the battle ahead, Luffy held his fists up in front of his face as if in a classic fighting pose and put on a smile. "I've fought some strong guys while traveling the ocean, so you'd better be prepared for a spirited battle!" That remark in particular garnered a grin from Terry's face, almost as if he were accepting his challenge in making it a spirited battle.

"Gomu Gomu no Bullet!" Luffy's fist slammed hard into Terry's stomach, but to no avail. He stretched his arms back further, causing Jeran to step out of the way quickly to avoid any of the crossfire, and they shot forward, palms slamming into his torso and sending him toppling back, but once again, he suffered no physical damage because of his Devil Fruit power.

_This is such an enclosed space; those two monsters are going to end up destroying everything in sight at this rate._ Jeran felt a few beads of sweat running down his forehead just from listening to the impact of Luffy's punches, a testament to the strength of the Straw Hat Captain.

Leaping into the air, Terry caught Luffy with his legs and brought him to the ground, interlocking his fingers and raising his connected hands together before smashing it into Luffy's face. He added insult to injury by bringing his head down upon him and slamming their skulls together. Terry stood up and picked him up by the shirt, whirling around and hurling Luffy into the wall, cracking the foundation slightly.

"That's true strength right there, pirate Luffy," he stated, putting one hand on his hip and shrugging his shoulders, shaking his head cockily. "I may not be able to cause you any actual harm because of your rubber body, but you won't beat me by squaring off toe to toe."

Winding his body up and using the momentum to flip around, Luffy's fist shot out like his pistol punch, striking Terry in the chest and doing nothing, but at that moment, he flicked his elongated arm with his thumb and caused it to whip several times, punching Terry a multitude of times. He did not finish with that and stretched his leg out as best he could in their confined space, kicking in a wide arc and striking him in the ribs, knocking him into the bars of the prison cells in an attempt to weaken him with the Kairoseki.

The Seastone momentarily drained Terry of his strength, causing him to feel the pressure of Luffy's blows even though they had long since passed due to his metal skin fading away from the substance. He tried to catch his breath and get away from the bars, but Luffy punched him in the face with a bullet punch, knocking him back and drawing blood from his freshly busted lip.

"D-Damn it," he swore, rubbing his lip and slicking the blood away. Despite the fact he had just been hit with a fairly powerful blow, he still kept the smile on his face as if he were enjoying the fight to some extent. "I never expected you to be so resourceful even when you look this stupid, Luffy." Reaching behind him, Terry grabbed the fabric of his cape and tossed it aside, removing his shirt, tie, and undershirt in order to grant him more mobility and free range of movement.

Luffy charged forward, thrusting a hard punch at his opponent only for Terry to compliment it with a punch of his own. The two of them collided in midair, creating a powerful shockwave of energy that exploded outward, knocking Jeran down and wrecking more of the room, bending the Kairoseki in spite of its durability and cracking more of the stones of the prison they were in.

_I have to find some way to defeat him, but I'm not going to make any progress at this rate with his metal skin._ Luffy thought to himself, taking a glance back in order to see the window behind them, noticing there was an abundance of water around them. "I think I just got an idea, heehee." Luffy began to wind his body up again, leaving his legs in their normal state before springing into the air and shooting his legs out, winding them up along the way until they caught Terry by the neck, binding him with his twisted limbs.

Terry's hands instinctively shot up to try and catch his legs, but he was too late and they managed to catch him in a vice grip. "If you're trying to choke me, give up, you won't have enough strength to crush metal between your legs." He really had no idea what he was planning, but he assumed it could not have been something that would defeat him.

"You'll see what I have planned right now, Marine." Luffy's grin widened, using the momentum of his body suddenly unwinding to propel towards the open window, whipping around and shooting Terry straight towards it. "Gomu Gomu no Ōzuchi!" The rapid rotation added more strength to his attack, slamming Terry into the wall of the prison, sending him toppling through it and into the open air.

A scoff escaped from the Captain, still holding onto Luffy's legs even though he had been put directly through a thick stone wall. "I don't see what your point is here, but you're not going to accomplish anything with these kinds of juvenile strategies!" A loud crashing of waves suddenly came within earshot, causing him to look down and see the ocean that was directly below him and there was only a small cliff base for them to stand upon. "No! The ocean! You bastard, you're trying to throw me into the ocean!"

"Gomu Gomu no…Bazooka!" Luffy's hands were propelled forward and he released his grip on Terry when his palms hit his stomach, doing no damage, but it was significant force to send the Captain plummeting towards the water below. "Heeheehee, I win, Marine Captain!" His celebration would be short-lived as Terry caught Luffy's arms the moment they hit him and he started to drag the pirate along with him.

"Luffy!" Jeran shouted, seeing that the other boy was suddenly jerked down towards the ocean and ran to the broken wall just in the nick of time to catch him by his legs, digging his claws into the ground in his hybrid form. "I've gotcha! I'm not gonna let you fall into the ocean." Luffy's legs suddenly stretched out in his grip, sending both of them down to the edge of the cliff, safe from falling into the water, but he knew the fight would continue.

_I sense something odd about Luffy…He seems tired, exhausted even, as if he's not fighting at 100%._ Jeran looked down at Luffy pushing himself up to his feet, breathing heavily and nearly collapsing again when he gripped his stomach. _Could it be…? Is he hungry?!_

A loud groan escaped from Luffy's mouth as his tongue hanged limply out, sitting in place on his knees and staring up at Terry with a rather desperate expression. "I'm so hungry," he blurted out in a whining tone. "We didn't get to eat properly for three days and I feel so weak because of it."

Quirking an eyebrow, Terry noticed the obvious change in Luffy's demeanor and would take advantage of it in order to finish him off. "I guess you're starting to run out of gas there, Luffy, but I'll tell you this much. You've given me one hell of a fight." If one would look closely, they would see a content smile on his face, showing that his competitive spirit had been satisfied when fighting that man. "This is the end."

He kicked off the ground, putting on an impressive amount of speed while rushing towards Luffy, drawing out the steel bat he carried around from his holster and swinging it upward with an underhand thrust, but it was stopped suddenly as a vicious looking claw caught it, rending through the steel with sharp talons that felt no resistance against it. "W-What?"

Jeran tossed the ribbons of metal away and cracked his claws, shooting a sharp glare up at Terry. "You call that a spirited fight when you would dare attack a man when he is down?" he demanded, snarling and gnashing his fangs at him. "If this is to be a spirited battle, then your next opponent is going to be me, the Rogue Wolf!"

A faint breath escaped from Terry in order to catch it again, tossing his now useless weapon away and sizing up Jeran with a smirk. "You're not a physical immune human like Luffy is, so if I hit you, you're going down and I guarantee that one, Kedamono."

"For the last time, my name is Jeran," he immediately corrected him, scowling and assuming a rather feral looking fighting position, hunched over with his haunches bent and his claws in front of him. "Don't call me by the name my old man goes by. I'm my own person, Terry." 

A hand was put on Jeran's shoulder, distracting him momentarily from the fight ahead and almost causing him to turn around and attack, but he ceased his actions when he saw Luffy standing behind him.

"I appreciate you trying to fight for me, but let me handle this guy," he said, putting on a brave front despite the suffering he was going through because of his sickening wave of hunger. "He threatened my nakama, and I'm not going to let him get away with that."

Jeran stopped for a moment, considering the offer, but he shook his head and lightly slipped away from Luffy's grip. "There's a kitchen in this base full of food that you can eat and should share with your comrades, but for now, I'm going to kick this guy's ass on your behalf." A wide smirk formed on his face when he turned to look back at him. "And I accept your offer. After this guy goes down, I'll be your nakama!"

"Ooh hoo! Amazing!" Luffy shouted, his mouth dropping and watering as his eyes lit up. "There's meat in a kitchen! Lots of meat that I can eat and become strong again! And we got a new nakama! Thanks a lot, Jeran-kun!" With that, he dashed off in excitement to find the kitchen with his keen sense of smell for meat and left him to fight the metal Marine.

"So you're finally learning how to be a man and fight your own battles?" Terry asked, laughing to himself and shaking his head. "Maybe if you had the balls you did back on the ship, you would have managed to defeat us." His cocky attitude suddenly faded away when a cut formed on his cheek, ripping through his metal skin and drawing blood even though his fruit was active.

That feral attitude Jeran had before returned almost instantaneously, his index finger soaked in Terry's blood from the cut he just made. "The only reason you managed to beat me then is because you cowards ganged up on me!" he cried out in rage, gnashing his fangs together and slowly stalking towards his prey like the wolf he was. "Now that it's a one on one fight, you have no friends to back you up and it will be a fair fight!"

_I do have to be careful against Terry, because if he manages to hit me even once with a strong blow, I'll be knocked out for sure. I'll admit that I'm strong, but even I can't survive getting hit by a fist made out of frickin' metal._

In an almost blinding movement, Terry rushed at Jeran, thrusting his fist down only to hit air and rock, sending a flurry of rocks flying upwards that blinded the wolf temporarily, giving him a chance to attack. Terry's fist burst through the dust and struck Jeran right in the cheek, nearly causing the wolf to stumble to the ground, courtesy of the disastrous blow Terry had dealt him.

However, Jeran regained consciousness from his short daze, his hands reaching up to catch Terry's forearms, digging his sharp nails into his skin and causing him to let out a loud cry of pain. "Now it's about time we end this, Top Gear!" Jeran shifted his weight to the left, pivoting on his right foot to toss him into the air before he dropped to all fours, kicking off the ground with his strong wolf legs. "Garou Garou no Kiba!" His body rotated in an onslaught of swinging claws and snapping fangs, literally tearing into Terry's body and sending a spray of blood flying upward. The metallic skin proved ineffective against his deadly claws and Terry's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell into a state of unconsciousness, hitting the ground with a loud thud when Jeran finished his destructive attack. The wolf hit the ground on his feet in front of him, breathing heavily due to the exertion the technique took upon his body, since he was not used to the massive rotation.

"It looks like there wasn't much conviction backing up your gears, Captain Terry." Jeran stood up and leapt into the hole that was created, running through in order to track down Luffy, knowing that there was still one more Captain to deal with even if he managed to feed himself and get back to full strength. The one they called "Slick" was a deadly adversary that he had to be warned of.

In the kitchen, Luffy had managed to raid the entire stock of food and devoured enough rations to feed an army, leaving the refrigerator completely empty after he had finished with it. A belch came out of his mouth when he tossed aside the last bone of meat and he glanced to the door to see it open, assuming it was Jeran coming through.

"Yo, I'm sorry I didn't leave you any food, but you'll have to try out Sanji's when we get back to the Thousand Sunny."

However, it was not Jeran who locked eyes with him, but an incredibly tall man wearing a lavish black suit and tapping his toes against the ground in a dancing fashion before doing a thrust with his pelvis, lowering his hat and exposing his spiky hair and dark brown eyes.

"Sorry, Straw Hat Luffy, but neither you nor anyone else are going to be enjoying any food for a long time," the strange dancing man stated, doing a few salsa moves and dancing around the room in an erratic fashion, making himself appear as an oddity to the pirate captain. "After I'm through with you, you'll be sharing a cell with the other inmates at Impel Down in a maximum security prison. Now, what's say you and I do the tango?"


End file.
